I think Haley liked to ride horses. I don't have that many pictures of her doing it. Like I said, she rode horses at the stable for years, but I didn't always have my camera with me. In all of the pictures that I took she looked like she was having a great time.
Notice how she was tied on to the saddle.
She didn't always enjoy herself. It took a long time for her to get used to riding. We went once a week. Just like her other physical therapies it was work. The movement of the horse made her body move. It made her body work. She didn't like it when her body worked. She cried. Sometimes she screamed. The horses were so good, it didn't phase them. Sometimes she would get on the horse and ride around the arena once and then want to get off. We didn't let her.
Occasionally she went about half of the session and then she wanted down. Sometimes if she had been good and she asked to get down without screaming and crying we would let her get down. It was on those days that she would visit the other animals that lived at the stable. There was a dog, a great big pot bellied pig, several pygmy goats, some chickens, some ducks and some cats along with all of the horses. Haley loved to visit each one.
This is Cajun.
Haley would ride around and around on the lunge line. The owner/therapist would stand in the middle holding the lunge line talking to the horse as well as to Haley. These pictures were taken after Haley had been riding for a while. When she first started the therapist would walk alongside of the horse the whole time. Notice how Haley has a good seat on this horse even at such an young age, I was so impressed by that.
Haley would always ride over to the water barrel so that Cajun could get a drink. Cajun didn't always want a drink, but the owner would have her do it anyway. It gave everyone a little break and it taught Haley to think of the horses needs.
Haley always thanked the horses for letting her ride.
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